Faith and Duty
by dragoongfa
Summary: Faith and Duty follows the exploits of Canoness Superior Praxedes during the first stages of Hive Fleet's Kraken invasion of the galaxy. The story was one of the three novel proposals I sent to Games workshop during the 2011 open submission period, none of them were accepted and thus I upload them as fan fiction. These are the first three chapters, continuation is unlikely.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_It has been 57 days since I stepped foot on Okassis as part of my tour of the eastern fringe, my visit was only meant to last for a couple of days but due to the events that followed my arrival I decided to postpone my departure. When Haiken convinced me to extend my tour of the eastern fringe he couldn't tell me much, only assumptions about an enemy that may be lurking in the sector; if that came from any other Inquisitor I would have sent a polite reply about my schedule being far more important than simple assumptions but it is Haiken, he knows me and I know him…_

_Perhaps there is something to that theory of his after all, my contacts on Terra say that the Inquisition is conducting a purge of officials with ties on the Eastern fringe; furthermore many planets on the Eastern fringe have openly rebelled against the Imperium, Ichar IV in particular is receiving a lot of attention, the Inquisitor there has petitioned the Ultramarines for help; A direct result of these news is that many Sisters secretly question our continued presence here, there are worlds where the Sisters of Battle could make a difference in these turbulent times and to be honest with myself I share their concerns, although I do believe that our work here is not finished._

_The Ultramarines should have arrived at Ichar IV a few days ago but astropathic communiqués have been very difficult for the last month and thus news have been sparse. I have finally found the time to send Anista to question the local representatives of the Ordo Astra Telepathica about the nature of these difficulties, if she can't get a clear answer out of the astropaths no one will ever be._

_The Planetary governor finally managed to gather enough courage to ask about our continued presence here, probably he fears for his position; Anista was quite furious when she first read his message, her phrase 'How dare he question a Canoness Superior?' being the most polite part of her tirade against the governor's rather understandable question. After all, the planet has been going to hell for quite some time. The continued natural disasters that have plagued this planet have left only a shadow of its former self, for the past year the planet has been hit time and time again by abnormally powerful earthquakes and hurricanes, it is as if the planet tries to tear itself apart._

_This has offered the perfect explanation for our continued presence here, without revealing anything about what we discovered. Merely the arrival of so many of the Daughters of the Emperor on the planet calmed and reassured the populace in its time of hardship and as it is our duty to suppress Heresy I deemed that our presence here was warranted in order to keep the populace firmly in the path of the Emperor after the Cardinal's heretical departure and our purge of the cardinal palace; despite the fact that the governor was one of the first we cleared of any possible affiliation with the genestealer cult we uncovered, I still haven't informed him about it. I am now confident that the cult we destroyed on our first day here was the only one but we still haven't cleared every high ranking official of the planet, it would take but one genestealer hybrid to remain at large and a new cult would grow in time._

_Despite our presence the wave of emigration off the planet continues unabated; only the demonstrations and the riots have been far less frequent, probably because of the extermination of the genestealer cult, even the few earthquakes that have occurred since our arrival are weaker._

_To be fair with myself, I don't know why I linger so long here, we have managed to clear most of the high ranking officials of any affiliation with the genestealer cult, without even alerting anyone about what we were really looking for; the local Arbites and the Caledonian 105__th__ Imperial guard regiment could handle the rest and undertake a more open and thorough purge of any remaining genestealer activity._

_Yet I chose to extend our presence here for a few more days, I have a feeling that we are still needed here. Perhaps it is more than that though, I thanked the Emperor when Haiken contacted me and asked me to extend my tour; is it wrong of me to not want this tour to end? I know what I will have to do should I return to the Convent Sanctorum. Sometimes I wish that the Costudes had chosen another sister._

_Canoness Superior Anya Praxedes, Order of Our Martyred Lady_

_Personal Journal, 5 121 992M41_

Praxedes inserted the electro quill back into its slot and glanced at what she wrote at the dataslate, after a few seconds she saved the text and deactivated the dataslate. She leaned back at her chair and relaxed as she observed the office she was in. The cardinal who once used it decided to leave the planet after an earthquake hit the capital city of Okassis but his presence had left its mark on the room; in particular the numerous holy tomes that decorated the bookshelves were practically new and unopened, left to gather dust, the names and the deeds of the saints that they spoke of were never recited in ceremony. In contrast other books, regarding accounting and economic management, were worn; their pages frequently opened and read. Next to them there were plenty of empty spaces where the wood showed signs that once there were several books on it; this alone would have alerted her of what was hidden beneath the cardinal palace, no truly faithful priest would ever put his estates and riches above the saints.

She sighed and smiled as she remembered the message she received a month ago about the former cardinal, apparently her message about the genestealer cult in the cardinal palace ruffled quite a few feathers; the freighter that carried him was destroyed by the Imperial navy and an Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos started a purge on the planet he was heading to, furthermore all emigrants, whether they were nobles or lowly servants, are currently investigated.

She read the morning reports that were sent to her office, there were updates from the local arbites, the local priesthood, the PDF, even courtesy reports from the Imperial Guard regiment stationed on the planet. She went through them quickly as they didn't report anything that she didn't know already; the only noteworthy incidents were the usual demonstrations and occasional small riots that were quickly put down. From the day that the Sisters of Battle stepped on the planet things calmed down considerably; Okassis with its recent troubled history was in the brink of rebellion but that changed overnight with their arrival and the impromptu purge of the palace, many of the locals suspected that the lack of faith by the cardinal and the priests that followed him was the real reason for what afflicted them; the arrival of the sisterhood followed by the cleansing and reconsecration of the palace only reinforced that belief.

With the cardinal and his lackeys permanently out of the picture, she was the most senior representative of the Ecclesiarchy on the planet as well as the head of the strongest fighting force presently on the planet, although the 105th Caledonian would never admit that. This placed her in the rather uncomfortable position of becoming a leading figure for the local populace, with the cardinal abandoning his position and the governor maintaining order only through the use of the PDF, it was no wonder that the populace would turn to the Daughters of the Emperor for reassurance, the problem was that there wasn't much of a populace left on the planet to speak of.

Once a thriving trading hub, the planet has shed most of its wealth due to the recent earthquakes that have plagued it; most of the nobility who held power on the planet were quick to abandon it, taking whatever they could with them, anyone who could pay for passage aboard a freighter soon followed them, many in fear, others in search of a better future. The combined result of the increased emigration and the casualties from the numerous natural disasters shrunk the populace to a mere hundred millions of citizens, from an initial population of over five hundred millions.

She studied the orbital traffic reports and bit back a curse, there were enough ships in orbit to transport everyone off the planet but they were only there to fill the roles of carrion birds; the nobles that had abandoned the planet had contacted several rogue traders to come and retrieve anything of theirs, industry plants were disassembled and prepared for off world transportation, entire estates were dug out and shipped off, one palace in particular was lifted off by the foundations and then it flew up to the cargo bay of a waiting freighter; the noble who owned it managed to rent some heavy duty anti grav units from a forge world. To his credit only the planetary governor remained fully committed to the planet, perhaps due to the knowledge that the Imperium would not see him kindly if he left his post.

The doors slammed open as Palatine Anista rushed into the office, taking Praxedes by surprise.

"Canoness Superior, we have a serious problem." The Palatine closed the doors as she spoke.  
"The astropaths? What did they say?" Anista went straight to the small bar which held several decanters of amasec, she took one, poured some into a shot glass and unceremoniously brought it down in one gulp. Praxedes raised an eyebrow at the out of character drinking of her subordinate. "How bad is it?"  
"Bad enough that I really needed that." The Palatine replied, Praxedes observed as Anista took an amasec tumbler in her hand.  
"Straight or with spring water?" Anista asked.  
"Straight." The Palatine poured two fingers into the glass and put the lid back on to the decanter; with the glass and the decanter at hand she sat on one of the chairs in front of the Canoness.  
"So what did they say?"  
"Their exact words: There is a shadow over the warp." Anista offered the glass of amasec to Praxedes who took it without thought.  
"Are they sure?" The Canoness asked while swirling the contents of the glass, observing how the liquid turned.  
"They are psykers but they do know their trade; they are scared Anya, they haven't seen anything like this." The Canoness brought her glass to her nose and smelled its content, inhaling from the nose and exhaling from her mouth, taking note of every last aroma she could sense.  
"Yet, we know what that means…" Both women stood in silence for a few moments, Praxedes unconsciously continued to swirl her glass.  
"Assemble the Sisterhood, I will call in a meeting with all the officials we have cleared so far and the rogue traders in orbit... and then tell them that a Tyranid hive fleet is on its way." The Palatine stood up and saluted with the sign of the Aquila before she left her superior to her thoughts. Praxedes stood up as the door closed and with the glass of amasec at hand walked to the window.

The window had a nice view of the palace's courtyard, once a serene garden where priests meditated, now it was filled with tents occupied by those left homeless in these dark times; beyond the courtyard the city was in ruins; few structures on the planet were strong enough to survive a strong earthquake and the cardinal palace was one of them. She saw the pyre that still burned just in front of the palace's gates and her mind went back to the events of her first day on the planet. She took a sip of amasec and swished it around in her mouth, picking up all the distinct flavours before swallowing, the warmth of the ancient liquid paled in comparison to the fury she felt as she remembered what had transpired there 57 days ago.

_Damn you Haiken, what have you gotten me into this time?_

* * *

The Immolator shacked as it passed over some debris that were on the road, Praxedes grabbed the holding bar by reflex, Anista chuckled at the sight.  
"What?"  
"Canoness I have seen you stand tall in the middle of Eldar raids and Ork incursions without even flinching, yet you still seek something to hold whenever we pass over the smallest pebble."  
"That was not a mere pebble."  
"Whatever you say, Canoness." Anista said with a smirk, causing Praxedes to chuckle.  
"Have you read the message by the governor I sent you?" Praxedes asked her second.  
"Yes."  
"What did you make of it?"  
"He is furious with the Ecclesiarchy, that much I am sure." The Palatine replied.  
"If half of what he accuses the cardinal and his retinue is true, he has more than a right to be." Praxedes bit back a curse as they passed over a wall that had fallen on the street "The cardinal alone started a riot when he abandoned the planet and those he left behind are trying to outdo him in stupidity."  
"I doubt that what he said can be trusted; he is the planetary governor, it's one of their habits to blame others for their failures."  
"I doubt it Olivia, I spoke with him via vox when I reached the surface. Emperor as my witness he sounded relieved for having us here." The Palatine was surprised at that.  
"Relieved? That's a first." Anista spat.  
"I told him that his accusations are serious and that I wanted some hard evidence; his response: 'see for yourself'."  
"All I see is a ruined city, the PDF on the streets and a hungry populace." Anista waved to the general direction of the city. "Hardly the fault of the local ecclesiarchy in my opinion."  
"No one is blaming him for the earthquakes, yet."  
"But they do blame their priests for that." It was Praxedes's turn to flinch at her second's remark. "You know it's true, they dare not speak of it but they do believe it; just like they believe whatever they want about us."  
"We shall see what we shall see sister." At that Praxedes opened the top hatch to the gunner's position and stood up.

The small column of Immolators, Repressors and Rhino transports traversed the ruined city, a couple of arbites on their motorbikes were ahead of them, clearing the road of anyone who might slow them down. Praxedes stood up at the gunner position of the Immolator and casually took in the surroundings; everywhere around her all she could see were ruins and devastation. She had been on many planets hit by wars and nothing could be compared with what she was seeing now. Okassis's capital city had simply ceased to exist; not a single building in sight was left intact after the earthquakes, all around her the people tried to scavenge whatever they could from the rabble, they all looked worn, tired and starving.

The column passed one of the mobile kitchens that the PDF had deployed throughout the city, an entire platoon of troopers was with it, trying to maintain order to the long line of people who waited to be served a single bowl of soup. A few meters down the street there was an open space that once could have been a park, now it was dug up and was used as a mass grave but again there simply wasn't enough room for all of the dead, the bodies of those who starved to death littered the streets and no one was paying any heed to them; only a couple of women were mourning over the bodies of their loved ones.

The smell of the decaying dead was everywhere and yet no one seemed to be bothered by it, perhaps they didn't care anymore after living in such conditions for months. She knew that everyone noticed their small column but many dared not to look at them, the expressions of those who met her gaze were those of fear, despair, loss and anger; the people of Okassis had been pushed to their limits but still, she wondered if their spirit was broken.

What perplexed her more than anything was that there wasn't a single priest in the streets, not one to read the last rites for the dead, not one to recite prayers and give the people faith in the face of adversity. In their time of need the people of Okassis needed the Emperor more than ever, yet no one from the local ecclesiarchy was to be seen in the streets. She looked back at the way they came and saw that a crowd was starting to gather behind them, following them to the cardinal palace. The people could not keep up with the motorized column but they didn't need to, they knew where the Daughters of the Emperor were heading and she could see in their eyes that they would be there to see what would unfold.

When she could not stand the sight of the dying city no longer she went back into the Immolator and closed the hatch. Anista saw the expression in her face and made to ask her but before she could speak Praxedes raised her hand and stopped her.  
"There is heresy on this planet sister and the local priests are part of it, of this I am certain."

The rest of the way was short, uneventful and drowned in silence, when they reached their destination Praxedes was surprised to see that the gates to the cardinal palace were closed to them. As she disembarked from the Immolator the first thing she saw was the wall that surrounded the palace, a wall that stood three meters high and surrounded the entire estate of the palace. A few meters in front of the Immolator, the great iron gates stood closed, defying the sisters of battle.  
"Palatine Anista!" Praxedes barked. "Were the priests informed of our arrival?"  
"Yes Canoness, I contacted the confessor in charge myself." Came the reply from inside the Immolator.  
"Vox them again and tell them that we are here and we are willing to forgive this mistake on their part."  
"Yes Canoness."

A PDF lieutenant run towards her, fear and awe clearly drawn onto his face, he stood at attention in front of her and clumsily made the sign of the Aquila. "Canoness, we were informed of your arrival by the governor himself." He said with a trembling voice "We are under orders to let you pass."  
"Let us pass? Access to the cardinal palace is forbidden?" Praxedes asked him.  
"Ah... yes Canoness, the governor himself posted a company in order to keep the perimeter of the cardinal palace safe."  
"The governor has tasked you to protect the cardinal palace?" The mere thought that a temple of the Emperor be attacked by imperial citizens was parallel to heresy.  
"Ah... no... Canoness, our orders are not to protect the palace but to protect the citizenry from the priests inside."  
"What?"  
"I don't know how to tell you Canoness." The lieutenant seemed to pale slightly "You better see for yourself Canoness, you wouldn't believe even if I managed to tell you." She tuned the vox unit of her armour to the standard Sororitas command frequency.  
"Anista, send Lina's squad out, I am going for some sightseeing." The rear ramp of her command Immolator opened and Sister Superior Lina and her Celestian squad disembarked, with a single hand signal she ordered them to follow her and to keep alert; Sister Lina nodded and her squad fell in behind the Canoness, their bolters and flamers at the ready positions. The lieutenant gulped at the sight that the six Celestians offered.  
"Lead the way lieutenant." He hastily made the sign of the Aquila once again and crossed the street, the seven sisters of battle close behind him.  
"Any news from the palace?" Praxedes asked in her vox unit, she would swear that Anista had just cursed someone.  
"That damned confessor, I am going to shove that vox unit of his where the Emperor cannot find it." The Palatine replied in an angry voice.  
"What did he say?"  
"He said that the entire planet is guilty of Heresy and that its people are paying the price for their sins, anyone who stands with them is guilty of Heresy in the eyes of the Emperor and they shall all be devoured by the divine beasts."  
"Divine beasts? Local folklore?"  
"He didn't elaborate and now he refuses to even acknowledge us."  
"Keep vox silence, I will see what we will do about him when I am back."

The lieutenant led them across the street and into a building that should have been a high class restaurant before the earthquakes, now it was used as an outpost by the PDF since it was the only relatively intact building for quite some distance. Most of the troopers inside averted their gaze as they passed, only a handful were curious and brave enough to stare at them and they looked the other way when they crossed their eyes with the Celestians. After two flights of stairs they reached the second floor, the entire second floor must have been the VIP section of the restaurant, the extravagant surroundings and the balcony that offered a clear view to cardinal palace attested to that, oddly enough there wasn't a single trooper posted in that floor.

They stepped at the broken glasses that once offered a barrier between the balcony and the interior, once outside the lieutenant gestured at the direction of the palace and the giant courtyard behind the wall. Praxedes had seen the barbarity of war, she had fought every enemy of man and triumphed over every last one of them; yet what she saw in the grounds of the Emperor's house could only have come from the hands of the most depraved minds. Dark Eldar, Chaos worshippers and heretics, only they would do such things.

Behind the wall and into the courtyard, hundreds of men, women and children were crucified or impaled; they formed a second wall, a wall of the hanging dead behind the stone wall. Beyond them there were worse spectacles, torture devices were littered all over the gigantic courtyard, one could easily see the blood that was still on them and the dead that were around them.  
"Some of them... Some of them are still alive." One of the Celestians behind her whispered.  
"What crimes could they have done to deserve that?" Praxedes asked the lieutenant, she knew that he had seen this before yet even he became pale at the sight.  
"I don't know Canoness, most are the ones who went to the palace for shelter after the first earthquakes." The man shook as he remembered what had transpired a couple of months ago. "The cardinal left the planet, said we were all guilty of heresy and the planet was punishing us. Then the remaining priests of the palace, two hundred of them at least, started doing that." Not being able to look anymore he averted his gaze and looked at the floor.  
"Then the riots started, mobs went after every last priest they could get their hands on, even the ones who denounced...that." He raised his hand and pointed at the palace's courtyard  
"We were ordered to protect the chapels and the cardinal palace; when things calmed down the confessor came out with hundreds of priests, by force of arms they rounded up dozens more before we stopped them."  
"Why didn't the governor send you into the palace to stop them?" Praxedes asked the lieutenant who seemed conflicted, as if he couldn't decide if he should burst to tears or if he should start shouting obscenities.  
"He was afraid, at least that's what most of us think... The PDF openly attacking a shrine of the Emperor... it would be heresy."  
"There is not a single servant of the Emperor in there lieutenant, the house of the Emperor is sullied by the presence of heretics inside it." She took a deep breath as she decided what to do next but there really wasn't a choice to be made. "This is an ecclesiarchy matter and it will be handled by the ecclesiarchy alone." She turned and faced him. "Withdraw your men and cordon off all of the surrounding streets; no one but the sisters of battle is to be allowed near the palace and no one but them is to be allowed to leave it alive; is that understood?"  
"Yes, Canoness" The lieutenant saluted and ran downstairs, without looking back even once.  
"Sister Lina, leave two of your sisters here, we are going to need some eyes on the palace for the time being." The sister superior gestured to two of her squad mates who didn't seem particularly happy with their given task. Ignoring them Praxedes activated the vox unit.  
"Anista, contact the _Wrath of the Faithful_ and tell them to mobilize the sisterhood."  
"Canoness, you are not seriously considering attacking the cardinal palace?"  
"When you see what I see right now, you will understand why there is work to be done in there."  
"Yes, Canoness."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The walk downstairs and out of the building was drowned in deliberating silence; the PDF troopers had already rushed outside in order to cordon the entire area and keep the gathering crowds away from the palace. Anista had already assembled all of the sisters who came down to the planet with them, Praxedes simply stood in front of them and spoke.  
"There is Heresy on this planet and it has taken hold of this house of the Emperor, we shall cleanse it and we shall bring every last heretic to the pyres of judgement."  
"We shall pardon none." The assembled sisters responded in unison. She nodded at them and they dispersed into individual squads.  
"Canoness, _Wrath of the Faithful_ reports that the mobilization is underway, all of our sisters will be ready for deployment within the hour; a company is already in full combat readiness."  
"Good, let us see to our plan of attack." Praxedes said as she took out her dataslate.

All of the preparations and prayers that needed to be done took less than ten minutes and now the only thing that remained for them to do was to wait. Praxedes glanced back at the road from which they came, in just ten minutes a huge crowd had filled it; it wasn't a mob, no one was shouting or showed any signs of violence. No, they were imperial citizens, the Emperor's flock; people who had seen their entire lives shattered, their loved ones die; they were the ones who starved and most of all they were those who were betrayed by the ones who had sworn to keep them in the Emperor's path. Their eyes pleaded for justice to be delivered and by the Emperor, she would serve the Emperor's justice to those who had forsaken Him.

She checked the weapons she held in her hands, her power sword, _Katherine's Wrath_ hummed in anticipation; one of the most holy relics of her Order, if not the most holy of all. It was gifted to the first Canoness Superior of the Order of our Martyred Lady, the Sister who succeeded Katherine after her violent death, by the Adeptus Costudes. It is said that the Emperor himself commanded that his own power sword to be broken and its metal used in the forging of six great power swords, one for each of the great Orders of his Daughters. Perhaps this is the reason why the Adepta Sororitas have not fractured like the Adeptus Astartes, which one of the sisters of battle would dare to break the oaths that were sworn on the Emperor's own sword?

Next she checked her Inferno pistol, unlike the sword this pistol was not a holy relic but it was almost as important to her as _Katherine's Wrath_, it was a gift by Haiken; perhaps the most irritating Inquisitor that the Ordo Xenos ever had in it ranks, every time he needed a favour she was the first person he called, much to her annoyance, yet despite all that; he was the father of her children.  
"Canoness, the dropship is almost here." Anista said, bringing her back to here and now.  
"Is everything ready?"  
"Yes, Canoness."  
"Then I will see you in the cardinal palace." They both made the sign of the Aquila and Anista went back into the command Immolator.  
"I once again must object about your role in the attack Canoness." Anista said via vox.  
"Objection noted."  
"The Emperor protects, Sister."

High above them a dropship appeared, as it flew twenty black dots appeared behind it and started to grow as they fell towards the ground, as the dots grew closer she could distinguish the arms and legs of the Sisters Seraphim.  
"It is time, attack!" She yelled and run towards the wall. In two strides she covered the five meters that were in front of her, she tensed her legs and jumped over the wall; without the aid of the servo motors that her armour's legs offered the jump would be impossible. She landed on the top of the wall and once again rushed forward, with one more jump she crossed ten meters of the distance and she was among the crucifixes and the dead.

She heard Lina's Celestians behind her as they landed, all six of them were behind her; the two lookouts would be redundant with the Seraphims above them and as such they were allowed to participate in the attack. Fifty meters to her right, the other Celestian squad jumped over the wall and rushed towards the cardinal palace.

They run towards the cardinal palace with strides, they covered more than three meters with each stride and they quickly closed the distance. The heretic priests were caught by surprise as they didn't immediately open fire, they probably thought that the Sisters of Battle who publicly denounce them before going into the attack, every minute they remained in the Emperor's house was a blasphemy and Praxedes was in no mood tolerating blasphemy in order to adhere to protocol niceties.

They had covered one hundred meters and two hundred meters of open space remained between them and the palace when the heretics finally opened fire; first one, then three and finally five heavy stubbers were firing, all of them positioned on the second floor and oversaw the part of the courtyard from which they attacked. Praxedes and the Celestians reacted the moment the first heavy stubber fired, years of training and combat experience went into gear; they didn't seek cover from the fire, for there was none to be found all around them. They dispersed and started to move erratically towards the palace, the super human speed that their armour granted them allowed them to stay ahead of the heavy stubber gunners. They jumped to the side and back, they took shorter and longer strides and despite the heretic fire they still closed in without even losing one of their numbers.

Even so, it would only be a matter of time before the gunners got their act together and started to concentrate their fire but the Sisters of Battle would not give them that time. As the angels of vengeance the Sisters Seraphim descended from the sky, their jetpacks roared as they closed to the palace. Twenty Seraphims attacked the heretic positions on the second floor, some crashed through the windows and with their bolt pistols at hand made short work of their surprised opponents, others lobbed frag grenades through the windows and the rest flew in front of the windows in order to draw the heretic fire away from their sisters on the ground.

As they had started, the heavy stubbers went silent one by one, their crews taken out by the Sisters Seraphim. Praxedes and the Celestians surged forward once again and covered the remaining ground in seconds, high above them the roar of the dropship's engines drowned the sounds of battle, it stood idle over the palace as Battle Sisters rappelled down and into the palace.  
"Anista, you are next." She ordered via vox and at the next moment the huge iron Gate that was the single entrance to the cardinal palace's courtyard was vaporized by the twin linked meltas of the two Immolators, what remained of the gate was pushed aside as a Repressor transport led the charge of the Sisterhood's armoured fist. Praxedes looked at the Celestians next to her and those at the other side of the palace's main entrance, all of them were there and she gave thanks to the Emperor for that.

What they needed to do was to clear the main hall of the palace of as many heavy weapons as they could before the armoured transports arrived. She signalled at the other Celestian squad and as one both squads left their cover and rushed to the top of the stairs in front of them. Only a handful of heretic priests were at the top and not one of them managed to return a single shot before the Celestians cut them down with their bolters, limbs and torsos were blown apart as the self propelled projectiles found their marks and detonated inside the heretics.

They stacked at the two doors which led to rooms that were adjacent to the main hall, a Celestian kicked the door out of its frame and stepped aside as another of her squad threw a frag grenade inside, the explosions were followed by shrieks of pain that were quickly silenced by bolter fire as the Celestians went inside. The other Celestian squad voxed in and reported its success in entering the palace.

Once again Praxedes and the Celestians stacked at a door, this time at a door that led to the main hall of the palace, where most of the heretics were likely to be. In seconds the process was repeated and the Celestians went into the main hall. There were over a hundred heretics inside, all of them surprised at the explosions that rocked the main hall, Praxedes saw the barricades that had been erected and the carefully planned firing positions that were aimed towards the main entrance of the palace.

The Celestians laid down aimed and disciplined volleys of bolter fire, covering their sisters with the flamers as they lit the barricades in flames; few heretics managed to get close to Praxedes and those who did were quickly disintegrated by her inferno pistol, the miniaturized melta leaving almost nothing of those it hit. She took cover at one of the pillars and lobbed a grenade at a heavy stubber position, the heretic priests frantically tried to turn the heavy weapon against the sisters of battle but the frag grenade made sure that they did not succeed.

The priests were quick to reorganize and mount a counter attack while more heretics poured in from side doors, far more than what there should be in the palace at the first place. Praxedes saw that many of the new arrivals had more limbs than it was humanely possible, they were hideous and deformed, some of them were not even able to stand straight.  
"Mutants!" Praxedes snarled as she eviscerated with her power sword a girl who had talons instead of arms.  
"Genestealers!" Sister Superior Lina yelled and pointed at the hulking beasts that entered the hall from a door twenty meters in front of them.

The tide turned against the sisters of battle as the mutants pressed their numbers against them, no matter their battle prowess they simply could not face this many foes at once; yet the sound of approaching treaded vehicles from the outside reassured them. They fell back, going from column to column, giving ground in order to buy time.

Soon they were pinned down with their backs at the wall and the genestealer hybrids made way for the full genestealers to attack and finish them off. As the genestealers rushed towards them the Celestians trained their weapons on them, ignoring all of the other threats but before they fired the main door collapsed behind them as a Repressor transport crashed through it and into the main hall, two genestealers were unlucky enough to be infront of the armoured transport's bulldozer blades and they were reduced to a pulp as a result. The vehicle's heavy bolter went quickly into action, cutting down numerous mutants; while the sisters inside were quick to follow suit, firing their weapons from the passenger slits.

More Sisters of Battle entered the fray by the collapsed main door and the tables turned once more; the genestealer hybrids could not withstand the superior firepower and the holy fury of the daughters of the Emperor and they died in droves, mutant blood soon flooded the main hall of the cardinal palace and the hybrids retreated deeper into the building, followed closely by squads of battle sisters. Palatine Anista entered the main hall and rushed to her superior's side.  
"Canoness, are you alright?"  
"We are fine only thanks to your timing Sister."  
"You are welcome." Anista looked at the corpses of the hybrids around them "So genestealers... this changes everything."  
"Yes it does." Praxedes nodded "The top floors are being swept by Sister Irenia, take charge of the sweep for the rest of the palace, check every room, every hole and every nook; we must not let a single hybrid survive this."  
"What will you do?"  
"I am going to take the Celestians and a couple of squads and clear the palace's catacombs."  
"You will need more sisters for that Canoness."  
"We don't have enough time to wait for more Sisters to arrive from the _Wrath of the Faithful, _we have to push our advantage now while they are reeling." Anista made to protest but decided otherwise.  
"Fine but I will send more Sisters to you as they become available."  
"Get to it Sister, we have to burn this infestation and make this palace His once again." They both saluted with the sign of the Aquila and Anista rushed off to her task. Praxedes turned to the two Celestian squads who were replenishing their spent ammunition from the Repressor's stocks.  
"Get a couple of flamers more and extra ammunition, we are going underground."

* * *

The palace's catacombs housed the remains of the high ranking clerics who died on Okassis, on other planets such catacombs would extend for kilometres but on Okassis, a planet that was colonized for a mere five hundred years, they should have been smaller than that but as the Sisters soon discovered, other tunnels were dug around the catacombs, the genestealer cult must have expanded them in order to make room for their swelling numbers.

The sisters of battle advanced cautiously, the Celestians in front did not take any chances; from hard earned experience they had learned that they had to check every room and every opening. Where there were shadows they used their flamers to light the darkness from a distance, most of the times there was nothing there and they left a flare in order to keep the place illuminated as a signal for the all clear but there were plenty of instances were genestealers and their hybrids waited in ambush there, when the flaming promethium would reach them they would shriek and with their inhuman savagery they would charge at the sisters who immediately cut them down with their bolters.

The hunt went like this for half an hour and soon their reached a junction where the hybrids decided to finally make a stand; genestealers and hybrids armed with stubbers attacked them from two directions, the sisters stood their ground and with their bolters they managed to suppress the hybrids but the speed of the genestealers allowed them to get close before they could train their weapons on them. Praxedes pushed a Celestian aside, saving her life from a leaping genestealer, the xeno, whose claws could easily penetrate power armour, missed the celestian by centimetres. Praxedes quickly brought the power sword down, cutting the beast in half.

The remaining genestealers quickly recognized her as the leader and all three of them attacked her at once, the Celestians were left to watch as the melee unfolded in front of them, they could not risk shooting at the genestealers without hitting their Canoness. Praxedes shot the first genestealer in mid air, with a flash the inferno pistol disintegrated the beast's head; the second genestealer rushed her from the ground, in a single motion she brought the humming power sword back up and thrust it into the beasts head, the sword's energy field cut through its head like it was made from paper but momentum alone kept the rest of the beast's body on its course. The xeno's body hit her at the waist and she lost her footing, the third and last genestealer saw the opening and leapt at her, without thinking she pushed her leg against the wall to her right and jumped to the left, she crashed to the opposite wall and she was on her knees as the genestealer prepared for one final leap but three Celestians with their chainswords drawn rushed in, determined to protect their Canoness from the beast. The melee was short and brutal, despite the beast's strength and ferocity it could not withstand the nearly berserk Celestians, it managed to seriously injure one of them, one of its claws rented the woman's power armour at the waist, seriously injuring the Celestian but the other two cut the last genestealer to pieces.

Praxedes stood at her feet and rushed to the fallen Celestian, she examined the wound and saw that without immediate medical attention the woman would perish. She quickly took a syringe of anaesthetic from her suit's medical kit and injected it at the injured woman's neck, immediately after that she sprayed the wound with some antiseptic foam and bandaged it as best as she could.  
"I need two sisters to carry her back to the surface, she won't survive without surgery." Two battle sisters stepped forward and with care grabbed the injured Celestian. Praxedes nodded at them and they run back the way they came carrying the unconscious woman. She looked down to her power armour gauntlets, in the deem lighting of the tunnels she couldn't distinguish the blood of her sister from the black painted gauntlets.  
"Now let's see what these Xenos protected." Praxedes murmured and took the lead.

The tunnel they were in proved to be the last, it lead to a huge underground chamber which must have served as a temple; a temple of perversity if she was to be a judge, pictures of depraved sexual acts between humans and genestealers decorated the walls, while beds and statues of gigantic genestealers were all around them. At the other side of the chamber a huge bloated form was visible, she knew what she looked at, it was a genestealer Patriarch, the leader of the genestealer cult. The xeno had become huge and bloated, unable to move or even defend itself as it couldn't even lift its talons from the weight.

They approached the huge beast and she met its gaze, she saw the fear in its eyes and it must have seen the loathing and hatred she felt for it.  
"Burn it." Praxedes ordered and as the sisters who were armed with flamers stepped forward she saw something new in its eyes, something she was sure that the xeno must have felt never before...  
Dread.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

All of the planetary officials showed varying signs of unease when they entered the room; receiving an urgent request of a meeting by the Canoness Superior of a Order Majoris of the Adepta Sororitas was something that they never expected but after the events of the past couple of months on this planet they had adequate grounds to fear that such a request would come, a request that they would not be able to ignore nor deny, a request that could mean their death sentence as far as they knew.

Governor Leroun arrived first with an entire platoon of his household guards, he didn't show any obvious signs of anxiety but the way he played with one of his shirt buttons betrayed him. A young woman, who no one would expect of her to be a PDF general, if not for her uniform, arrived soon afterwards with another platoon of armed men as escorts. Praxedes remembered that she was the rushed replacement of the previous head of the PDF, a man who somehow managed to get himself infected by a genestealer; her anxiety could be the reaction to what followed when Praxedes discovered that simple fact. The head of the planetary Arbites arrived next with just a squad of Arbites as escort, he was an old scarred man, who Praxedes learned that he had retired but was forced back into service after most of the high ranking Arbites were killed, he walked with pride but his eyes betrayed the weariness that the past year had brought with it. The colonel of the 105th Caledonian followed with two squads as escort, of all the people present he was the only one who was calm, as if there was nothing to be afraid of, Praxedes remembered that the 105th remained out of the fighting as much as it could, protecting the main spaceport and stationing troops at the mountains surrounding the capital. The head of the local Astropaths arrived last, escorted only by a couple of weary PDF troopers who obviously didn't want to be around the old blind psyker, who for some reason seemed unusually agitated.  
"Help the astropath to his chair." Praxedes whispered to Anista behind her but as in queue the astropath walked to his chair, dragged it back and sat on it, right after that he turned to Praxedes as if looking to her and offered a courteous bow.  
"He doesn't look like he needs any help." Anista whispered back with a faint tone of amusement. Soon after that the rogue traders and the Imperial navy admiral appeared on their respective screens at the other side of the table.

"I Thank all of you for coming in such a short notice." Praxedes said after standing up. "I am afraid that I have dire news regarding the security of this planet." The governor and the PDF general gulped at that while rogue traders concentrated on her with eyes full of greed. "It appears that this planet will soon be attacked by a Tyranid Hive Fleet." Praxedes would swear that Anista barely managed to contain a chuckle after seeing the dumbstruck expressions of everyone else in the room, except the astropath who suddenly seemed less agitated.

"Tyranids? With all due respect Canoness, how can you be so sure?" The governor managed to utter the question everyone had in their minds.  
"Governor Leroun, I am sure because only one enemy of the Imperium can cause the disruption in astropathic communications that the planet is experiencing." Praxedes turned and addressed the blind Astropath "A shadow over the warp, isn't that exactly what every astropath calls it?"  
"Its more than just a shadow now, it's like the warp has completely gone dark; only the Astronomican is barely visible." The blind man answered, his cold voice sent shivers down the spines of everyone present, she turned to the screens that represented the rogue traders in orbit "I am sure that you have already asked your own astropaths about it and that they have given the exact same answer." All of the men nodded, some with barely concealed reluctance.  
"Do we know anything about the size of the hive fleet that is approaching? Can we hope to successfully defend the planet?" The young PDF general asked.  
"The disruption of Astropathic communications started just over a month ago, this at least is a certainty; from what I know, the larger the hive fleet, the larger the area the shadow of the warp will cover." Praxedes took a deep breath before continuing "The shadow of the warp of an average splinter fleet from hive fleet Behemoth manifests a couple of days before the arrival of the splinter fleet in question; the numbers of such fleets usually are in the hundreds of small bioships and one, maybe two of the larger Hive Ships." It wouldn't take long for even the simplest of human minds to disseminate what Canoness Praxedes had just said.

"That would mean..." The young general managed to utter "Hundreds of thousands perhaps millions of the smaller bioships, with hundreds of Hive Ships and Emperor knows how many warrior organisms. This means only one thing, a second major Tyranid Hive fleet, perhaps bigger than Behemoth itself." Praxedes leaned back at her chair and observed the reactions of everyone in the meeting. The PDF general barely managed not to panic, the governor looked like a man who finally lost all hope, while the Imperial guard colonel had leaned forward, burying his face in the palms of his hands, the Astropath somehow remained serene in all this. The rogue traders did not even try to conceal their terror; she had no doubt that they already worded their excuses for leaving the planet to its fate. She knew that if she didn't take the initiative at that moment everyone on the planet was doomed.

"Under these conditions, a successful defence of the planet is impossible." Her blunt statement caused quite a few surprised stares, governor Leroun seemed at a loss for words, while the PDF general seemed ready to explode at what that statement implied; in contrast the rogue traders suddenly perked up, believing that they wouldn't be called in for a hopeless defence of the planet. "Yet..." Praxedes continued before anyone could speak "the Emperor shows us his favour by showing us a way to victory." She pointed at her display which listed all of the ships in the system. "Over three thousand ships are in the system, they all came here to retrieve the industries, the wealth and every last piece of property that the nobility left on the planet when they run away in fear." The expressions on the table suddenly shifted as Praxedes spoke "Enough ships to evacuate every last human off the planet."

At that very moment all of the rogue traders burst into an incomprehensible tirade. "We don't have enough room fom everyone" someone yelled "We will lose our contracts and our reputations will be at risk" another one managed to scream over the others. Praxedes could almost feel the rage that burned inside Anista behind her.

"Gentlemen..." Praxedes said in her most cold authoritarian voice silencing everyone in an instant. "It seems that I may have to remind some of those present that I am the Canoness Superior of the Order of Our Martyred Lady, an Adepta Sororitas Order that is _richer_ and _stronger_ than most of the chapters of the Adeptus Astartes." Suddenly she had the unwavering attention of every last rogue trader in the meeting. "As a servant of the Ecclesiarchy I have burned heretics wherever and whenever I found them and rewarded those who kept their faith in the face of adversity." The mood of the rogue traders shifted as they contemplated what she was saying.

"I know that the Emperor has given us a sacred task, to save the lives of the faithful on this planet; whoever cowers from such a duty will surely be a traitor in His eyes but those who will willingly undertake the task at hand will find themselves in His embrace and they will receive His aid whenever and wherever it is needed." The room remained silent and it took several seconds for an elderly rogue trader to find the courage to speak.

"It is our sacred duty to protect the Emperor's domains and His people, in so doing we retain His eternal favour." The old trader made the sign of the Aquila as he finished, the other rogue traders nodded in approval.

"So it is agreed, the holy mission of saving the populace of this planet takes priority over everything else." She nodded at the Imperial Navy admiral who had remained silent all this time "Admiral Lorris who currently is aboard the Adepta Sororitas battleship _Wrath of the Faithful_ will coordinate our efforts from space." The admiral nodded in return and as in queue all of the screens went black as the admiral and the rogue traders set up another meeting.

The room seemed smaller now that the rogue traders and the imperial navy admiral had left the meeting, Praxedes could see the dumbstruck expressions of every official in the room, governor Leroun was in awe. "Canoness, I have had to deal with numerous rogue traders in my lifetime but I have never heard of anyone who managed to convince even one to undertake such a perilous task." Praxedes smiled at that remark.  
"I didn't convince them governor, I just reminded them how the Ecclesiarchy sees all of them; it would only take one word from a high ranking member of the Ecclesiarchy and the Inquisition would be all over them, warrants of trade or not." Praxedes leaned back on her chair once again. "On the other hand the Ecclesiarchy will see them favourably now that they willingly undertake such an Emperor given task." The governor nodded in understanding.  
"Damned if they don't, pious and richer if they do." He said with a smirk, drawing smiles from everyone else in the room.  
"The cooperation of the Rogue Traders is the least of our problems though." Praxedes said, dampening the mood once again. "The chartist captains are obliged by law to give aid and with the senior rogue traders so eager to help we won't see any trouble from their part but most of our problems will come from the surface of the planet, in particular I am worried about genestealer sabotage." The mood once again shifted as the latest of her revelations hit home, again the governor was the first to speak.  
"Canoness, I assure you, that in the short history of the planet, there has never been any evidence of genestealer activity." Anista rudely chuckled behind her, forcing Praxedes to give her an annoyed look.  
"Am I missing something?" Governor Leroun politely asked, showing no sign of annoyance at Anista's undiplomatic gesture. Praxedes exhaled a breath she didn't know she was holding before she spoke.  
"I assume that you all know what we did on our first day here?" She rhetorically asked.  
"You don't mean that..." Governor Leroun swallowed his next words before finishing.  
"Every last one of them; the genestealer cult at the cardinal palace was sizeable and well armed. This alone indicates decades of activity."  
"Then the entire planet may be swarming with those things." The old commander of the Arbites broke in. "Everyone in this room is automatically suspect." Praxedes raised her hand in order to silence any outbursts before they came.  
"Everyone in this room has already been cleared by my Sisters, those in high positions who were under genestealer influence have already been purged. If I am not mistaken one of them was your predecessor, General..." Praxedes turned and faced the young PDF General, who looked dumbstruck at the latest revelation.  
"Marguet." The young woman managed to say. "General Harran, never showed any signs that could indicate..."  
"He wasn't a Hybrid." Anista cut her in mid sentence. "He was infected, probably during one of the riots that took place just before we arrived. Emperor only knows what he would order if he was infected from the very beginning."  
"That would explain some of his last orders." General Marguet reluctantly nodded.

Praxedes saw the opening to continue the meeting in earnest. "Thankfully, I have several sisters under my command who have experience in rooting out a genestealer cult, even their sleeper agents. I can say with confidence that the majority of the high and mid ranking officials have already been cleared of any suspicion."  
"Canoness, I have fought genestealers before and from what I have learned, so have you." Colonel Anders of the Caledonian 105th spoke for the first time in the meeting "Since the genestealer infestation was large enough to do what it managed to do then we are looking at thousands, if not tenths of thousands of genestealer hybrids throughout the planet. They should have been able to infiltrate the entire hierarchy of the planet with those numbers but from what you are saying most of the current officials are clean."  
"That was what I was thinking too but then the planet has been hit by numerous abnormally strong natural disasters in the recent past. Most of the major cities were practically destroyed with heavy casualties among the populace. The genestealer cult undoubtedly suffered accordingly. If I remember correctly the PDF and the Arbites both lost a big part of their chain of command due to casualties taken from the earthquakes and the subsequent violence."  
"That is right, the Arbites had to bring retirees back into active duty in order to fill the gaps in the command structure." The old Arbite commander said. "The PDF had to also promote the majority of their low ranking officers in order to fill their gaps." He concluded, drawing a nod from the young PDF general.  
"Then we are fortunate in this time of adversity." The governor commented. "But it is my understanding that genestealer hybrids and those infected by them can hide among the masses easily."  
"Some of the genestealer hybrids can pass for humans, most are hideous mutants; they would never pass for humans but that problem still remains, we can't allow even one genestealer hybrid to board one of the ships, who knows how many of the refugees will be infected should one hybrid get onboard."  
"The emigrants!" The governor suddenly realized. "Those who have already left the planet, none of them was checked before they left the planet."  
"That problem has already been taken care of, governor. All of the emigrants are currently under investigation, from the few messages I managed to receive after I sent word about the cult we discovered here, most of the emigrants who were investigated were clean and those who weren't led the Inquisition into other genestealer cults."  
"That is...good then; After these developments will the refugees have any problems when they reach another Imperial planet?" The governor asked.  
"I don't think so, there will certainly be some screenings but few would think of forbidding aid to Imperial citizens because of a genestealer cult that has already been largely cleansed. Nevertheless, as faithful servants of the Emperor we must take measures in order to make sure that no further genestealers make it off world. A full scale purge will have to take place while we evacuate those who are proven clean." Praxedes concluded.  
"That will certainly stretch our resources to the breaking point, resources we can ill afford at this time." The Arbites commander commented.  
"Perhaps not." The governor commented. "It pains me to say it Canoness but in the past two months you and your Sisters have turned this planet around. Many already call you the saints of deliverance." Praxedes gave another annoyed look to Anista who smiled smugly as the governor spoke. "If you, personally, call for the full cooperation of the populace during this purge the people won't present any objection, at least those who are clean from the genestealer taint."  
"I appreciate your faith in the Sisterhood governor but before we even start with the purge we will have to make sure that those who conduct it will be clean themselves. I have barely one thousand Sisters of Battle under my command, I have full faith in them that they remain untainted in our brief stay here; the PDF and the rank and file of the Arbites on the other hand are drawn from the local populace which means that we will have to screen them before we will be able to use them on the wider purge." Praxedes's dig on the Arbites and PDF did cause the old Arbite and the young PDF general to flinch slightly but they nodded in resignation.  
"Although I have full confidence in my guardsmen and the regiment's Commissar to keep my regiment clean of genestealer infiltration I will conduct a screen among the troops under my command the moment I return to the spaceport." The colonel of the 105th Caledonian said, drawing an approving nod from everyone present.  
"Then the last thing that remains is to warn the Imperium about this new threat." Praxedes turned and faced the blind astropath who eerily turned and faced her in turn. "Will the local Astropaths be able to send a warning through the interference caused by the shadow of the warp?"  
"It will be extremely difficult." The blind astropath commented. "But we will do our duty to the Emperor, word will reach the Imperium about this new threat, even if it means our deaths in the process." The Astropaths cold voice had a determination that couldn't fail to impress the two Sisters of Battle.  
"I will pray to the Emperor that it won't be necessary to come to that, the lives of any of the Emperor's faithful servants should never be wasted." Praxedes said to the Astropath who was surprised hearing words that never expected to hear from a servant of the Ecclesiarchy.  
"The only thing that is left of us to discuss is how to best use all of our available resources in the coming storm, if we are lucky we will have a few days at our disposal before the Tyranids arrive in the system." Praxedes said to everyone in the room. "Until then we must cast aside all of our differences and false perceptions in order to better cooperate as is the Emperor's wish."


End file.
